The global economic landscape is experiencing a structural shift, highlighted by a cooling US labor market and intensifying geopolitical competition over critical technologies and minerals. While the US Federal Reserve faces renewed political pressure from the executive branch, South Korea is leveraging its semiconductor dominance to surpass Japan in exports, though it faces domestic policy challenges in real estate and tax reforms.
Korea. In the prior session on August 7, South Korean equities closed lower with the KOSPI down 0.60% and KOSDAQ down 0.36%, even as the country celebrated a historic milestone of its export value surpassing Japan’s due to strong semiconductor performance. Domestically, policy focus remains heavily on real estate, with President Lee ordering aggressive housing supply expansions to counter market anxieties over proposed holding and capital gains tax hikes.
US. US markets on August 7 saw gains, with the Nasdaq rising 1.30% and the S&P 500 up 0.62%, despite news that the US labor market shed 23,000 jobs in July. This cooling labor market, combined with a slight decline in the US 10-year yield to 4.66%, occurred alongside reports of President Trump renewing efforts to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook to increase executive influence over monetary policy.
Two months after he was blocked by the Supreme Court, President Donald Trump has resumed his effort to oust Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook as part of an effort to stack the central bank’s board with more allies.
MarketWatch
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Cambricon Technologies reported a 108 per cent surge in first-half revenue on Friday, as the firm capitalises on a massive domestic push to replace foreign AI hardware. The chipmaker’s revenue for the first six months of the year reached 6 billion yuan (US$890 million), while profits also jumped 122.6 per cent year on year to 2.3 billion yuan, according to a stock exchange filing. In the second quarter, the firm’s revenue was 3.1 billion yuan, in...
SCMP
The United States on Friday announced several critical minerals agreements with multiple mining companies, marking its latest push to curb China’s dominance over the production and processing of strategic materials. While attending a round table with global mining industry executives at the State Department, US President Donald Trump, without naming China, said that his administration would ensure America is “never again reliant on hostile foreign nations for the resources our country needs to...
SCMP
US labour market loses 23,000 jobs in July as education, government and retail sectors record significant declines.
Al Jazeera
State department informs Congress of planned closures in Canada, Grenada, Japan, Indonesia and CameroonThe US state department is to shut five foreign consulates and missions across Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean, drawing criticism that it is leaving a diplomatic vacuum at risk of being filled by China.The US Congress has been served notice of the impending closures, which are being justified on cost grounds and follow a reassessment of the US’s bilateral relationships with a range of countries since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.Continue reading...
The Guardian
Ultimately, it is time for the government and the National Assembly to redefine semiconductors beyond just the number one export item and into a national security asset for the AI era. They must proactively review a direct subsidy system for the semiconductor industry and essential infrastructure such as water and power grids...
연합뉴스
President Lee Jae-myung presided over a six-hour second meeting to review real estate policies, focusing on expanding housing supply and shortening the supply timeline. President Lee reiterated the orders from the first meeting on the 3rd to 'maximize supply volume' and 'minimize supply timeline'...
MBC
Like Korea, the share of semiconductor exports was high. Semiconductor exports accounted for about 30% of Taiwan's total exports. On the other hand, Japan's integrated circuit exports stood at $21.2 billion, remaining at a mere 5% of Japan's total export volume. Once...
네이버뉴스
The Blue House announced that President Lee Jae-myung held a second closed-door meeting on the 7th to review real estate policies and told officials regarding the metropolitan area supply measures, "Do not cling to existing ways of thinking, but make transitional judgments, think boldly, and take action." This emphasized the need for groundbreaking supply measures amid public concerns even within the ruling Democratic Party of Korea over the real estate tax reform plan, which simultaneously raises holding and capital gains taxes on non-resident single-home owners and ultra-expensive homes. President Lee reportedly ordered that the scale of supply should be further increased. From 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. that day, President Lee received reports on supply and financial measures from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Financial Services Commission at the Blue House. The meeting was held just four days after President Lee ordered a full review of existing supply measures during a seven-and-a-half-hour marathon meeting immediately after his tour on the 3rd. During the meeting, discussions were reportedly held on fast-tracking the construction of 60,000 homes, including the supply of 10,000 homes in the Yongsan International Business District announced through the January 29 measures, and expanding the supply volume.
동아일보
As the holding tax burden on high-priced homes increases, there is a clear movement among the elderly owning homes in Seoul's Gangnam area to consider tax-saving measures such as selling or gifting properties. This is because the government's real estate tax reform plan is expected to not only significantly increase the holding tax burden but also raise capital gains tax by as much as three to four times. In the real estate market, as the burden of owning high-priced homes grows, in the Gangnam area...
조선일보